Commentary on Corporate Governance and Accountability…
Three cheers for Chicago United — for hi;ghlighting the issues and sending a list of qualified men and women of color to the executives and board chairs at Fortune 1000 companies for consideration as board members. Board nominating committes should reach out to Chicago United if they don’t get the list (we are approaching nominee list-making for the 2008 proxy season elections).
The world has changed a lot and the “face of America” has surely changed in the last decades of the 20th Century. Corporate boards are seeking highly-qualified candidates and many such folk could be found if boards looked a little harder in the various minority / under-represented communities of the United States.
Why is this important? Consider that New York City, the world’s premier financial capital, is now a city of minorities — the majority of NYC are minority populations. (A half-million Dominicans who are wooed by canidates back in the D.R. are emblematic of the power of New York’s minorities.) We won’t have a “majority” or many “minority” populations in the not-too-distant future. Outfits like Chicago United can help forward-looking companies attract representation from under-represented communities-of-interest — good for them!
If you are a board member or corporate board recruiter, here’s the Web site for you: http://www.chicago-united.org/ (Take a look at their mission, capabilities, conferences and upcoming meetings.)
Hank Boerner
Editor – AC
